


Much Ado about a Ring

by winryofresembool



Series: Edwin Week [3]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: 503 week, EdWin Week, EdWin Week 2019, F/M, Fluff, Marriage Proposal, Promise, Secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-27 08:21:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18735232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winryofresembool/pseuds/winryofresembool
Summary: Ed brings Winry a gift from Creta.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The first chapter of this fic goes under the prompt 'secrets' and the second chapter under 'promise'. The second chapter will be posted tomorrow, if all goes well :D
> 
> Please let me know what you think, and enjoy!

As the winds started getting cooler in Creta, an unfamiliar feeling settled into Ed. One that told him it was time to go home soon. There was a time when he had thought he would never get tired of traveling, or that he would always need to be on the move if he wanted to live his life to the fullest. And maybe that feeling still lived in him, but it had become gradually less notable while a new feeling in him was growing. He… he wanted to see what the new chapter of his life that he had started back at the Resembool railway station would bring him. Never before had he had a situation that he actually had the possibility to choose, but now that he did, his choice surprised him. He wanted to get married to Winry. He wanted to see her succeeding as an automail mechanic and be there to support her. A tiny voice spoke in his head added: he did also want to start a family with her.

“Hey, Elric,” a low voice said suddenly, snapping Ed out of his thoughts. “Huh, did you just flinch?” the man continued. “You must have been thinking about that lady of yours back at home.”

Ed’s host, a Cretan man called David, patted him on the shoulder sympathetically. “I’ve been there, son. When I met my wife, I couldn’t get her out of my mind.”

“Ye-eah? I wasn’t really…” Ed started hesitantly, but he didn’t see any reason why he should lie to his host. “Uh, I don’t know. Lately she’s just been popping into my head more often.”

“You’re feeling homesick, boy,” David said knowingly. “It’s perfectly understandable. So, tell me about her. What is she like? How did you meet her?”

“Winry is a childhood friend. I guess we have known each other pretty much since we were born because she lived in the house next to ours. She’s also an automail mechanic, a real gearhead…” A brief smile played on Ed’s lips when he thought about Winry working on one of her projects, a passionate expression on her face. “You should hear her nagging when I forget to oil my leg…” he added quickly, to not come off as too soft. “And every time I broke my automail arm, she…”

Ed didn’t realize his slip until David asked: “Wow, you had an automail arm too?”

“Yeah,” Ed admitted and stretched the neckline of his shirt a bit to reveal the huge scar on his shoulder.

“Then how… How did you get it back?” Ed’s host asked with awe. “Limbs don’t just grow in trees…”

“They don’t,” Ed agreed. “It was a long and painful journey that involved having to fight the truth itself… Luckily I didn’t have to do it alone, but I definitely wouldn’t recommend the same journey to anyone.” He stopped to consider his next words. He didn’t want to reveal too much about his involvement in the events of the Promised Day, because the last thing he needed was publicity for something he really wanted to leave behind. “Even so… I wouldn’t change… well, most of the things that happened to me and my brother on that journey. It made me the person I am now.” Nina Tucker’s picture flashed in front of Ed’s eyes. He doubted that he’d ever get over the guilt fully. But he’d continue to research ways to use alchemy for the good, for her sake.

“You are a weird man, Edward Elric,” David said. “When you first showed up here, I thought you were going to be just some random brat with mediocre alchemy skills, but you’re really proving to be something else. Catching sharks, studying at the library until you fall asleep on the books, apparently fighting ‘truths’ and daydreaming of your girl… I must say I’m quite impressed.”

“Eh…” Ed rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m just a regular alchemy nerd.”

“Anyway… I believe I interrupted your story about your fiancé…” David remembered.

“Fiancé?” Ed considered the word for a moment. “I’m… not sure if I can call her that…”

“But didn’t you mention once that you had proposed her right before you left?”

“I kinda did… but I don’t know…” Ed started rubbing the back of his neck, like always when he felt awkward. “It wasn’t very official. She just… kinda said she’d give me 85% of… Uh, why am I explaining this again?”

“So, you never gave her a ring?” David asked, mildly shocked.

“A ring? I didn’t realize I needed to…” Ed said, embarrassed that he had forgotten something so crucial.

“Of course you do! You are lucky she said yes with that kind of proposal! Luckily for you, this is easily fixable. I happen to know the best goldsmith in this town very well. I can give you the address if you want to.”

“I guess… that won’t hurt.” Ed noted, his cheeks flaming.

“Quite the opposite! Imagine her face when she sees the ring you have picked for her!” the host exclaimed, and that was enough for Ed to decide he was going to get the ring already the next day.

…

Soon Ed found himself at the goldsmith’s his host had recommended. However, the rings he had in his shop were not what Ed could picture on Winry’s finger. Sure, if it was up to him, Winry would get the prettiest ring in the entire country, but Al’s voice in his head nagged that he also needed to consider what was suitable for her. For one, she was wearing working gloves all day long, meaning that whatever stone it might have had couldn’t be huge. Secondly, he had known Winry long enough to know she didn’t care about anything flashy. Sure, she did admire the expensive automail parts in the shop windows of Rush Valley, but it was different to be able to build one than own something that pricey.

He explained his problem to the goldsmith, and the man nodded understandingly.

“How about this option? You could give her a necklace, the ring hanging from it? That way it wouldn’t be on her way constantly.”

“I think that sounds pretty good,” Ed told him after considering it a bit.

“Well, what kind of chain would you like to have for the necklace? Gold? Silver? Here we have…”

“Umm…” Ed stopped the goldsmith before he got any farther. “I was just looking at these rings and nothing really looked like her. I recently scraped the cover plate of my automail when I tried to catch a shark.” He lifted the hem of his pants to prove his point. The plate was hanging from its screws awkwardly, looking like it was about to fall. “… So I’d need a new one anyway. So… would it be possible to make a ring and a chain of this metal?”

“Uh… you really want to make a ring out of that cheap metal?” the goldsmith stared at Ed disapprovingly.

“It’s not some cheap scrap metal!” Ed exclaimed. “She has done a LOT of research to find out what the best possible composition for the metal is, so that the automail is both durable and light enough to use! She spent days making this for me, and I think it would mean a lot to her to wear something that is made of her automail leg.”

“Okay, your point is clear. But what about your automail? I don’t know your mechanic, but if I was her, I wouldn’t be thrilled if you came home without the top plate.”

“You… have a point there.” Ed looked lost for a moment. “But my brother is an alchemist, he will know how to fix it! Just take a little piece of it and screw the rest back on.”

“Fine, then. I must say, this is probably one of the most extraordinary wishes I’ve ever gotten…” the goldsmith said before starting to work on Ed’s request.

…

A couple of weeks later, Ed was back in Resembool. Winry was still on her way from Rush Valley where she had been completing her apprenticeship, for which Ed was grateful because he and Al had some business to deal with.

After hearing that Ed was coming home, Al had decided to take a vacation from his alkahestry studies in Xing, and the three of them had made plans to spend some time together for the first time within a year. But right now, the boys had something else in their minds than the upcoming sheep festival or going to the lake for a picnic.

“Brother, it won’t work! She will definitely notice!” Alphonse protested when he heard Ed’s plan. Ed folded his arms and glared at Al equally judgingly.

“So what? The harm is already done. It will take you like a second…” He clapped his hands together like back when he still could transmute. “… To make it at least look more presentable. This way, I might have 5 extra minutes to live before she kills me. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

“Don’t be so dramatic, brother. But fine.” Al sighed. “I’ll do it on one condition. That you will let me change your ring into gold because you can’t give a ring made of scrap metal.”  
“I already told the goldsmith, it’s not scrap metal!” Ed exclaimed. “And you know it very well! She has spent hours…”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Al stopped him before he could get any farther. “But seriously, this… isn’t just some random promise, you are promising to get married to her and spend the rest of your life with her! Do you really want to do that with a piece of your automail hanging from her neck?”

“Fine,” Ed finally gave up. “But if she doesn’t like it… or if she finds out we broke the law… I will blame you. Understood?”

“Understood. So, you will let me do it?”

“Yeah.”

With just a clap of his hands, Al changed the ring into gold. Then he attached the now gold chain into the wires of Ed’s automail, and screwed the plate back on. With another clap of his hands, he made the cover plate look more presentable. For a normal eye, it looked just like it had before. Now, the boys only had to hope that Winry wouldn’t notice, at least not right away.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Winry gets the gift.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here is the second part to the fic I started yesterday! This Edwin week has been awesome, and I'm sad it's getting to its end. But next year again! Now, please enjoy and comment! :)

The day of Winry’s homecoming started surprisingly smoothly. When she exited the train, Ed was at the platform waiting for her, with a small bouquet of flowers he had picked on his way to the station in his hands. Al had once again insisted that’s what he should do, especially after what had happened to his automail. That way he could most likely protect himself from Winry’s wrath for a moment longer.

Winry was all smiles when she spotted her fiancé’s (she wasn’t sure what name to use) golden hair among the crowd. As she got closer, she noticed he had flowers in his hands, and her happiness changed into confusion. Since when was Ed so considerate that he’d even bring flowers? She got a strong suspicion that Ed had some ulterior motive, because the Ed she knew wasn’t usually that thoughtful. Of course it was possible, she thought, that Al was behind it… She decided to not question it as she finally reached her destination and gave Ed a warm hug.

“Hi! I wasn’t expecting to see you here!” she greeted him when they separated, Ed offering to carry her bag.

“Of course I came! You’re… I mean, that old hag would have made me wash two months’ worth of laundry if I had stayed in the house,” Ed claimed. “She’s still doting on Al; he only has to peel a couple of potatoes for the stew…”

“Right,” Winry snickered, seeing right through him. The blush on his face told her that was actually not the reason why he was there.

“Uh, these are for you,” he pushed the bouquet in Winry’s hands awkwardly.

“Aw, thank you, Ed! They look nice.” She buried her face into them for a moment, taking in their nice scent.

“That was nothing… So, how was your trip?” he asked quickly before Winry could think of some other way to make him blush.

“It was good! I am so close to getting my official automail mechanic license now! Mr. Garfiel still wants me to write a final analysis on the use of different metals in automail limbs, but that’s easy for me, I have years of practice on… why are you looking at me like that?” Winry asked when she saw Ed stare at him weirdly.

“No reason… I had just forgotten how passionate you get about mechanical limbs,” Ed grinned, making Winry glare at him angrily. “Sorry, sorry. Please, go on! You were about to say something about that analysis…” Ed had realized that the longer he let her rant, the less likely she was to pay attention to his slight limping, but there was something else too; he actually found himself interested in what she had to say.

“You were actually listening?” Winry asked with surprise.

“Why do you sound so surprised, I always listen…” Ed retorted.

“Yeah, right. Well, anyway… As you know, some metals are lighter and thus more comfortable for the user to wear, while…”

Winry continued her ranting happily all the way to the Rockbell house, while Ed made an occasional short comment. He sighed of relief when they made it inside the house without her noticing his issue at all.

…

Later that afternoon, it seemed it would start raining soon, and a neighbor of the Rockbells came to ask if someone would be willing to fix a hole on the roof of his sheep barn before that. He would have done it himself, but his back had been acting up a lot recently, and he didn’t think he’d be able to climb on the roof in that condition. Ed volunteered, happy about an excuse to get away from Winry’s knowing look for a moment.

In about 15 minutes, Ed managed to get the roof fixed with no problems. However, things took a turn for worse when he was trying to come down the ladder. It had gotten slippery in the rain, and unfortunately for Ed, he was wearing a shoe only on his real leg because he hadn’t bothered to put the other one on for such a short period of time. The combination of smooth, wet wood and a metal leg turned out to be dangerous for Ed, who could only scream when he slipped on the ladder and fell several meters before hitting the ground. Thankfully, there was nothing sharp under him, so his real limbs got off with relatively little damage… but he wasn’t so lucky with his automail. It got big dents on the surface, and based on the weird feeling on his leg, Ed was worried the wiring had gotten damaged too. Winry would definitely kill him now…

“Are you alright?” the neighbor asked him worriedly when he saw Ed lying on the ground helplessly.

“I… think so,” Ed lied, cringing as he tried to put on some weight on his automail leg.

“You don’t look OK… Let me take you home with my horse,” the man offered. “You are lucky that you have two medical experts living under the same roof with you… They will surely be able to check you up.”

“Lucky… or doomed.” Ed mumbled under his breath as he sat down on the carriage that took him back home.

…

“What happened?” Al yelped immediately when he saw Ed’s condition.

“I just fell from the ladder a couple of meters… The damn automail made me slip. But don’t worry about it… I have been in much…”

“Brother!” Al stopped him angrily. “I don’t care if you have fought Homunculi and gotten me back from the gate! You should be more careful. That could have ended badly.”

“Al, relax… I swear I’m OK, I just…”

Ed didn’t get to finish his sentence because a young woman’s voice said quietly:

“Edward…”

The blood seemed to escape Ed’s brain when he saw the sadness in Winry’s eyes. She had of course seen that the automail she had built with love was hanging from its port in an awkward position, and the skin of his arms was scraped badly.

“Win, please, let me explain…”

“What is there to explain? That you are the most reckless, irresponsible…” At that point Winry’s voice got so high pitched that Ed couldn’t figure out what else she said. She swept the corners of her eyes with her hands and ran back inside without looking back again. To Ed, that reaction was far worse than if she just started yelling at him.

“What the fuck was that about? Shouldn’t she be happy that I didn’t break my neck or something? Does she only care about her automail?!” Ed asked, kicking the ground with frustration.

“Brother…” Al said calmly. “I really don’t think she was upset about the automail this time, no matter what she says. She must have heard what happened to you and she simply freaked out.”

“Yeah but why?”

“Edward,” Al said seriously (Ed noticed that he used his full first name instead of the usual ‘brother), “you asked her to become your wife, and you still don’t understand how she’s feeling? Imagine how you’d react if Winry fell the same way you did and hurt herself in the process? Possibly because of your automail?”

“Oh,” Ed finally understood Al’s point. “I guess I really messed up. Again…”

“But it was an accident!” Al reminded him. “Just go tell her you are alright. I’m sure she will want to fix that automail of yours.”

“Fine.” Ed gritted his teeth. “Uh, can you help me out a bit? It’s a bit hard to walk with this…” He pointed at his automail.

Al helped Ed inside and upstairs where Winry’s room was but left him alone as Ed braced himself to knock on her door.

“Winry…” Ed said tentatively.

No response.

“Winry, I’m coming in.”

When he opened the door, he was surprised to see Winry working on a blueprint at her desk.

“What are you doing?” he asked, just to say something. He had never been good at this kind of stuff.

“Drawing an automail leg blueprint for an idiot who can’t take care of it,” she said without lifting her gaze from her paper once.

“About what you may have heard outside…” Ed said hesitantly, “I never meant it was your automail’s fault I fell. In fact, it has saved me from more accidents that you know…”

“I know, Ed,” Winry sighed. Her voice had already lost most of its earlier edge. “I just… freaked out.” Just like Al had suspected, Ed thought.

“But I’m OK, I swear. Aside from a couple of scratches…” Ed showed her his arms.

“I know,” Winry repeated. “It’s just, worrying is in my nature; I spent years worrying about you guys, and when you came back, I thought you guys were finally safe… and then incidents like this happen… And I feel it’s my fault…”

“Okay, first of all, it’s definitely not your fault. I was being clumsy, OK? Second of all, I’m sorry. I really should take better care of my automail.” He tried to lighten the mood a bit by saying: “If this is how you react to a little scratch, it’s a good thing you don’t know about my shark fight…”  
“Your what?” Anger flashed in Winry’s eyes again, and Ed realized he had made a mistake again.

“Eh…” he rubbed his neck. “We just did a little fishing, that’s all…”

“Let’s get back to that topic later,” Winry decided to give up on trying to understand Ed. “Now, let me see your automail.”

Ed sat down on Winry’s bed and Winry lifted his automail leg on her lap. She removed some of the metal plates to see if the wiring was damaged, and that’s when her mouth went into a widest ‘O’ Ed had ever seen on her face. He had forgotten what was inside the leg.

The ring.

“Ed… what is this?” She took the necklace with the ring out of there and dangled it in her hand.

“Oh fuck, I forgot…” Ed cursed, slamming a hand against his face. “This is not how I was supposed to give it to you…”  
“Could you please explain a bit further?” Winry asked, even though she had an idea about what he meant. Her face turned a shade redder.

“I was…” Damn it, why did he always have to get so flustered in her company, Ed cursed in his head, “… Well, remember when I was leaving to Creta a year ago and we were at the railway station?”

“How could I forget that?” Winry asked. They had… they had promised each other to spend the rest of their lives together, after all…

“Yeah, well, anyway…” Ed stuttered. “I realized I never gave you a ring… uh, as a proof of my promise… So… this is kinda it… Winry… are you still willing to give those 85%… or how much you want… of your life to me?”

There was a long silence.

“Of course I am, you silly!” she finally exclaimed and forgot all about the automail when she threw herself at him, making him fall on the bed. The hug lasted pretty long, and when they finally pulled apart, Ed offered to put the necklace on her.

“I think it suits you,” he said, admiring the smooth surface of the golden ring.

“Thank you,” Winry beamed, and leaned to kiss him on the lips. “It’s beautiful. Now, how about we take care of your bruises?” She pulled some disinfectant and bandages from her drawer and started cleaning Ed’s wounds.

“So, I’m more important than that automail, after all?” Ed asked smugly.

“Of course you are, you dumbo. One question, though: was it already broken when I came here?”

“Let’s... talk about that some other time,” Ed said and pulled her for another kiss. She didn’t complain.


End file.
